Effect of glycine and alanine supplementation on development of cattle embryo cultured in CR1aa medium with or without cumulus cells

Selostus: Glysiinin ja alaniinin vaikutus CR1aa-liuoksessa viljeltyyn kumulussolullisen ja -soluttoman naudanalkion kehitykseen

Anàlisi d'un spot televisiu segons el model proposat per Frederic Chaume : Estudi d'un cas: Beauty is nothing without brains

L’estudi de les situacions comunicatives sempre m’ha atret de manera significativa. El món de la publicitat, també. L’assignatura de Semiòtica audiovisual ha estat el vincle que ha inspirat el tema d’aquest treball. L’idea inicial era la d’analitzar des d’una perspectiva semiòtica un document audiovisual, concretament, Beauty is nothing without brains, un espot televisiu de Mercedes-Benz emès als Estats Units l’any 2007. Es pretenia identificar i analitzar cadascun dels elements que configuren la comunicació audiovisual i presentar possibles versions traductològiques del mateix. La dificultat de crear un esquema d’anàlisi que em permetés estructurar-ne l’estudi va conduir-me a Frederic Chaume. És llavors quan aconsegueixo concretar el tema del treball: es pretén analitzar aquest document audiovisual seguint el model proposat per Chaume, responent a un hipotètic encàrrec de traducció el qual demana la seva adaptació al mercat català.

Expression of an uncleavable N-terminal RasGAP fragment in insulin-secreting cells increases their resistance toward apoptotic stimuli without affecting their glucose-induced insulin secretion.

Apoptosis of pancreatic beta cells is implicated in the onset of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Consequently, strategies aimed at increasing the resistance of beta cells toward apoptosis could be beneficial in the treatment of diabetes. RasGAP, a regulator of Ras and Rho GTPases, is an atypical caspase substrate, since it inhibits, rather than favors, apoptosis when it is partially cleaved by caspase-3 at position 455. The antiapoptotic signal generated by the partial processing of RasGAP is mediated by the N-terminal fragment (fragment N) in a Ras-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt-dependent, but NF-kappaB-independent, manner. Further cleavage of fragment N at position 157 abrogates its antiapoptotic properties. Here we demonstrate that an uncleavable form of fragment N activates Akt, represses NF-kappaB activity, and protects the conditionally immortalized pancreatic insulinoma betaTC-tet cell line against various insults, including exposure to genotoxins, trophic support withdrawal, and incubation with inflammatory cytokines. Fragment N also induced Akt activity and protection against cytokine-induced apoptosis in primary pancreatic islet cells. Fragment N did not alter insulin cell content and insulin secretion in response to glucose. These data indicate that fragment N protects beta cells without affecting their function. The pathways regulated by fragment N are therefore promising targets for antidiabetogenic therapy.

Peut-on accepter les progrès en sciences biomèdicales sans progrès en éthique ? [Can we take for granted medical progress without progress in ethics ?].

Since the mid 20th century progress in biomedical science has been punctuated by the emergence of bioethics which has fashioned the moral framework of its application to both research and clinical practice. Can we, however, consider the advent of bioethics as a form of progress marking the advances made in biomedical science with an adequate ethical stamp? The argument put forward in this chapter is based on the observation that, far from being a mark of progess, the development of bioethics runs the risk of favouring, like modern science, a dissolution of the links that unite ethics and medicine, and so of depriving the latter of the humanist dimensions that underlie the responsibilities that fall to it. Faced with this possible pitfall, this contribution proposes to envisage as a figure of moral progress, consubstantial with the development of biomedical science, an ethical approach conceived as a means of social intervention which takes the first steps towards an ethics of responsibility integrating the bioethical perspective within a hermeneutic and deliberative approach. By the yardstick of a prudential approach, it would pay particular attention to the diverse sources of normativity in medical acts. It is suggested that this ethical approach is a source of progress insofar as it constitutes an indispensable attitude of watchfulness, which biomedical science can lean on as it advances, with a view to ensuring that the fundamental link uniting ethics and medicine is maintained.

Haemodialysis acutely reduces the plasma levels of ADMA without reversing impaired NO-dependent vasodilation

Rapport de synthèse : Introduction: la prévalence de l'insuffisance rénale chronique (IRC) augmente et malgré les traitements de remplacement rénal telle que la transplantation ou la dialyse, la mortalité chez des patients atteints d'une IRC reste très élevée. Les maladies cardiovasculaires sont la cause principale de mortalité chez ces patients, et le risque de décès dú à une complication cardiovasculaire est chez eux accru de 10 à 20 fois par rapport à la population générale. Méme si les facteurs de risque cardiovasculaires «traditionnels », principalement l'hypertension artérielle et le diabète sont très prévalents chez les patients avec IRC, ils sont insuffisants pour expliquer l'excès de mortalité cardiovasculaire. D'autres facteurs de risques « nontraditionnels » comme l'accumulation du diméthylarginine asymétrique (ADMA), un inhibiteur endogène de la synthase d'oxyde d'azote (NO), semblent aussi être importants. Chez les patients avec IRC, des taux élevés d'ADMA sont un puissant facteur prédictif indépendant de la mortalité cardiovasculaire. Il a également été démontré chez des souris que l'ADMA peut étre une cause directe de dysfonction endothéliale. Cette dernière joue un rôle primordial dans le développement de l'athérosclérose, cause principale des complications cardiovasculaires. Le but du présent travail est de tester l'hypothèse qu'une réduction du taux d'ADMA après une séance unique d'hémodialyse améliore la dysfonction endothéliale. Méthodes: la dysfonction endothéliale peut être évaluée dans les microvaisseaux de la péan de façon non invasive par fluxmétrie laser Doppler. La vasodilatation cutanée induite par un échauffement local de 34° à 41 °C (hyperémie thermique) est connue pour être dépendante de la production endothéliale de NO et a été utilisée dans plusieurs études cliniques pour évaluer la dysfonction endothéliale. Nous avons recruté 24 patients traités par hémodialyse chronique et également 24 sujets contrôles du même âge et sexe. Chez les patients dialysés, l'hyperémie thermique est mesuré une fois directement avant une séance d'hémodialyse, et une fois directement après une autre séance, toutes deux distantes de 2 à 7 jours. En même temps, les taux plasmatiques d'ADMA sont mesurés par la méthode de spectrométrie de masse en tandem. Chez les sujets contrôle, l'hyperémie thermique est également mesurée à deux reprises, à un intervalle de 2 à 7 jours comme chez les patients dialysés et les taux d'ADMA sont déterminés qu'une seule fois. Résultats: chez les patients dialysés, les réactions d'hyperémie thermique étaient superposables avant et après dialyse, mais moindre que chez les sujets contrôles. Par contre, les taux d'ADMA étaient plus élevés avant qu'après dialysé. Les taux d'ADMA après dialyse étaient similaires aux taux chez les sujets contrôles. Conclusion: cette étude montre que la vasodilatation dépendante de la production endothéliale de NO dans la microcirculation cutanée n'est pas influencée par les taux plasmatiques d'ADMA chez les patients dialysés. Ces résultats suggèrent que d'autres mécanismes sont responsables de la dysfonction endothéliale chez ces patients. Ceci met en question le concept que l'accumulation d'ADMA est un facteur causal du risque cardiovasculaire élevé et suggère que l'ADMA est juste un marqueur du milieu très athérogénique causé par l'IRC.

Capillary leak leading to shock in Kawasaki disease without myocardial dysfunction.

Kawasaki disease is an acute vasculitis of childhood. Its clinical presentation is well known, and coronary artery aneurysms are classical complications. Shock and pleural or pericardiac effusion are rare presentations of the disease. In intensive care units, the disease may be mistaken for septic shock or toxic shock syndrome. Owing to the fact that immunoglobulin therapy improves the course of the disease, especially if given early, and thus the diagnosis should not be delayed.

Recirculating CD4 memory T cells mount rapid secondary responses without major contributions from follicular CD4 effectors and B cells.

For weeks after primary immunization with thymus-dependent antigens the responding lymph nodes contain effector CD4 T cells in T zones and germinal centers as well as recirculating memory T cells. Conversely, remote nodes, not exposed to antigen, only receive recirculating memory cells. We assessed whether lymph nodes with follicular effector CD4 T cells in addition to recirculating memory CD4 T cells mount a more rapid secondary response than nodes that only contain recirculating memory cells. Also, the extent to which T cell frequency governs accelerated CD4 T cell recall responses was tested. For this, secondary antibody responses to a superantigen, where the frequency of responding T cells is not increased at the time of challenge, were compared with those to conventional protein antigens. With both types of antigens similar accelerated responses were elicited in the node draining the site of primary immunization and in the contralateral node, not previously exposed to antigen. Thus recirculating memory cells are fully capable of mounting accelerated secondary responses, without the assistance of CD4 effector T cells, and accelerated memory responses are not solely dependent on higher T cell frequencies. Accelerated memory CD4 T cell responses were also seen in B cell-deficient mice.

In vitro production of cattle blastocysts in chemically defined medium with or without insulin supplementation

Selostus: Insuliinin vaikutus naudan blastokystien tuottamiseen in vitro kemiallisesti tunnetussa liuoksessa

Influence of segmental chromosome abnormalities on survival in children over the age of 12 months with unresectable localised peripheral neuroblastic tumours without MYCN amplification.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic impact of segmental chromosome alterations (SCAs) in children older than 1 year, diagnosed with localised unresectable neuroblastoma (NB) without MYCN amplification enrolled in the European Unresectable Neuroblastoma (EUNB) protocol is still to be clarified, while, for other group of patients, the presence of SCAs is associated with poor prognosis. METHODS: To understand the role of SCAs we performed multilocus/pangenomic analysis of 98 tumour samples from patients enrolled in the EUNB protocol. RESULTS: Age at diagnosis was categorised into two groups using 18 months as the age cutoff. Significant difference in the presence of SCAs was seen in tumours of patients between 12 and 18 months and over 18 months of age at diagnosis, respectively (P=0.04). A significant correlation (P=0.03) was observed between number of SCAs per tumour and age. Event-free (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated in both age groups, according to both the presence and number of SCAs. In older patients, a poorer survival was associated with the presence of SCAs (EFS=46% vs 75%, P=0.023; OS=66.8% vs 100%, P=0.003). Moreover, OS of older patients inversely correlated with number of SCAs (P=0.002). Finally, SCAs provided additional prognostic information beyond histoprognosis, as their presence was associated with poorer OS in patients over 18 months with unfavourable International Neuroblastoma Pathology Classification (INPC) histopathology (P=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of SCAs is a negative prognostic marker that impairs outcome of patients over the age of 18 months with localised unresectable NB without MYCN amplification, especially when more than one SCA is present. Moreover, in older patients with unfavourable INPC tumour histoprognosis, the presence of SCAs significantly affects OS.

Psychophysiological activation during preparation, performance, and recovery in high- and low-anxious music students

The present study provides a comprehensive view of (a) the time dynamics of the psychophysiological responding in performing music students (n = 66) before, during, and after a private and a public performance and (b) the moderating effect of music performance anxiety (MPA). Heart rate (HR), minute ventilation (VE), and all affective and somatic self-report variables increased in the public session compared to the private session. Furthermore, the activation of all variables was stronger during the performances than before or after. Differences between phases were larger in the public than in the private session for HR, VE, total breath duration, anxiety, and trembling. Furthermore, while higher MPA scores were associated with higher scores and with larger changes between sessions and phases for self-reports, this association was less coherent for physiological variables. Finally, self-reported intra-individual performance improvements or deteriorations were not associated with MPA. This study makes a novel contribution by showing how the presence of an audience influences low- and high-anxious musicians' psychophysiological responding before, during and after performing. Overall, the findings are more consistent with models of anxiety that emphasize the importance of cognitive rather than physiological factors in MPA.

Aportacions per a una bibliografia de l'exili republicà català, valencià i balear als Estats Units d'Amèrica

This article attempts to gather together the work published in the United States and Puerto Rico by Spanish Civil War exiles of Catalan, Valencia and Balearic origin. Included are books, serials, sheet music, sound recordings and domestic movie videos, which have appeared in US territory from 1936 through 2004. The objective of the bibliography is to provide both an overview and a starting point for recovering the intellectual effort carried out by these exiles because this first inventory must still be completed with the addition of journal articles, contributions to monographs, and conference proceedings. There have also been exiles for whom books, music or videos have not been found, but for whom a certain level of intellectual activity is known or suspected. Such potential work would include articles and other contributions to journals in the US or cultural and membership activities of Catalan communities in that country. Without being able to offer definitive conclusions, it appears that exile in North America was a solitary experience, and never as a cohesive group or with the ties of mutual interests as was the case in Mexico or even in France. There were neither readers nor publishers to facilitate publication and to serve for creating group cohesiveness.